Chemotherapeutic interventions for combating metastatic cancer are one of the most widely accepted forms of cancer therapy. Through empirical discovery, many successful chemotherapeutics were developed largely independently of their biochemical mechanism of action. Chemotherapeutic regimens have undergone various refinements as a result of extensive preclinical and clinical investigations, yet the fundamentally inherent treatment drawbacks of chemotherapeutics still exist. For example, their relatively narrow therapeutic index, coupled with systemic toxicity and low selectivity for neoplastic cells, signals a major drawback in chemotherapeutic-based patient care. In addition, chemotherapeutic regimens may not necessarily take advantage of a tumor's prevailing biochemical profile, thus leading to therapies that are not personalized for the patient, and may ultimately fail to elicit an effective outcome.
Molecular imaging helps elucidate the biochemical profile of a given tumor leading to both potentially more focused and effective treatments. Cancer patients, whose tumors respond to specific tracers, provide therapeutic clues towards treatments with the highest percentages of success. In addition, after treatment has begun, follow up imaging can help determine the efficacious nature of the therapy and can quickly guide decisions regarding the need possible for alternative therapies. For example, there exists a sub-population of cancer patients that may benefit from anti-angiogenesis or anti-carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX) therapy. In these circumstances, the use of very expensive antibody-based therapeutics or very toxic treatments (i.e. chemotherapies) should be qualified prior to patient treatment, and a predictive molecular imaging test would have clear health and cost benefits.
Several examples of molecular imaging or marker agents are described, for example in U.S. Ser. Nos. 11/399,294; 11/413,596; 11/673,909; 11/901,704; 11/901,730; 12/074,583; and 12/180,444.
Consequently, it would be an advancement in the art to have improved agents which provide both biochemical an biophysical feedback allowing for tailored therapy for afflictions. It would also be an advancement in the art to provide a highly localized concentration of a therapeutic agent in order to minimize peripheral side effects while retaining desired efficacy. Therefore, a continuing need exists for novel compounds and methods for the treatment of cancers.
Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.